Going 'Rad'

It may not be the farmer's friend, but it's the beekeeper's friend.

Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), a member of the mustard family, Brassicaceae, is considered a weed, but I consider it a flowering plant for bees when I see it along roadsides and parks and lining orchards and vineyards.

Bee food!

As winter leaves us and spring snuggles closer, the bees are all over the wild radish. Typically white or a pale pink with pale pinkish-purplish veins, it's an early bloomer. Often you see mustard and "the rad" growing together.

If a weed is "a plant that is not valued where it is growing," then this most certainly is not a weed.

At least to  bees, beekeepers and photographers.